ARLINGTON, Va. — Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded to the Lockheed Martin LCS team a fixed-price, incentive-fee contract for an additional littoral combat ship, LCS 31, the company said in a release. LCS 31 will be built in Marinette,…
Austal USA Reveals Features of Its FFG(X) Conceptual Design for Navy Competition
ARLINGTON, Va. — Austal USA officials have revealed features of its conceptual design for the Navy’s competition for the Future Guided-Missile Frigate (FFG(X)), an evolution of its Independence-class littoral combat (LCS) design. The company has provided an artist’s concept and…
Navy’s DDG 51 Manager Revels in Program Stability
ARLINGTON, Va. — The program manager for the Navy’s new-construction Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyers reveled in the stability of the program in wake of the passage of the 2019 defense budget and the approval of multiyear procurement of…
Navy FFG(X) Program Cost Estimates Trending Downward
ARLINGTON, Va. — The cost estimates of the Navy’s future guided-missile frigate (FFG(X) are coming in under the required threshold and trending downward toward the cost objective, the program manager said. Speaking Jan. 17 to an audience at the Surface…
Navy Surface Chief: Western Pacific Ship Readiness Improving
ARLINGTON, Va. — The readiness of the Navy’s Forward-Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) stationed in Japan is improving, the Navy’s surface warfare chief said, crediting a new command, the Naval Surface Group Western Pacific, with driving much of the improvement. “The…
LCS Mission Modules Progressing Toward Operational Capability
ARLINGTON, Va. — The various mission modules for the three mission packages designed for the Navy’s littoral combat ship (LCS) are progressing through their testing milestones toward their initial operational capability (IOC), a Navy official said. “This is really a…
Navy Starting Dialogue for Future Surface Combatant USVs
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is beginning to move forward on its plans for a force of future combatants that will include three types of unmanned surface vessels (USVs), a service official said. The Navy “is just starting a dialogue…
Boeing to Deliver Second Batch of Net-Enabled Harpoons to Navy in 2020
ARLINGTON, Va. — Boeing will be delivering a second production run of Block II+ kits for the Navy’s AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon cruise missiles in 2020, a company official said. Jim Bryan, director of Cruise Missile Systems for Boeing Missile &…
U.S. 6th Fleet Commander: No Fixed Boundaries Between 6th, 2nd Fleets
ARLINGTON, Va. — The commander of the U.S. Navy’s fleet in Europe and African waters said there will be no hard distinction between the respective areas of responsibility of the U.S. 6th Fleet and the newly established U.S. 2nd Fleet….
Navy to Deploy Two Littoral Combat Ships This Year; East Coast LCSs to Deploy in 2020
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy will restart overseas deployments of its littoral combat ships (LCSs) this year after a hiatus of more than a year, the Navy’s surface warfare boss said. Two LCSs will deploy this year from San Diego,…


